


Superstitious

by evilseok



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, Multi, SNSD - Freeform, Supernatural - Freeform, Thriller, f(x) - Freeform, markhyuck, nakamotoyuta - Freeform, yutaxnct
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-12 14:16:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15996920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilseok/pseuds/evilseok
Summary: ❝There's no such thing as coincidences in this world.❞Luck never seemed to smile upon Yuta. His whole life had been filled with odd occurrences and unexplainable changes of events that would have simply left the average person utterly dazed and confused. Although being used to it all, it would seem that there is still little he knows about this peculiar world, meaning more he'll have to adapt the day he received a red tinted key on his doorstep.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First story and it’s a Yuta centered fic! I hope you enjoy!

Warning: Mentions of Death and other serious themes. Read at your own risk.

The sky was cascaded with red and blue that  
night, some of which were fireworks being launched to celebrate the New Year, others... not so much as lively. As the wind swept against his already ice cold skin and his tired eyes bore down towards the streets of his city, Yuta breathed in a large portion of air before letting it sooth out of his lungs gently.

He never really enjoyed big celebrations such as the ones they did on New Years, mostly because they were hectic and frenzy; danger was always somewhere lurking in the corner. And when there was danger, Yuta made it his priority to stay as far as possible, but not for the average person’s reasons, which would consist of not wanting to get hurt or in serious trouble, but simply because he didn’t want any of them to sense him.

It was his scent that always gave it away. No matter how many times he’d scrub his skin till it was bright pink or how much cologne he’d sprit on himself to the point that anyone sitting near would gag at the strong smell, it was all to no avail. They still knew. They still came for him.

As the sound of his footfalls are drowned out by a large commotion of people crowding around the area of a nearby apartment complex that is close to where Yuta lives, the stench of smoke fills his nostrils. As he gets closer, he sees people who’s clothes ranged from dazzled and decked out party outfits, to long and fuzy pajamas, signifying that all the people inside the building were evacuated.

The smoke only got stronger the closer he got, and as he kept walking, he is able to hear part of the story from the news reporter at the scene.

“...Forty-nine year old male who proceeded to burn his apartment down with himself and his two children inside...the two however, were able to make it out unharmed...the man’s body was found afterwards.”

The feeling of a rock being dropped into the pit of his stomach made his complexion fall slightly, but still kept a solemn face as didn’t bother to look at the wreckage or the crowd of people still processing the situation that had unfold.

But he no longer could keep his stoic expression once his eyes landed on the two children. They sat huddled next to each other, the young girl clinging to her brother as he held her tight to his chest. soot was smudged on their faces and legs as they had a green and slightly burnt blanket tucked between them.

Yuta’s heartstrings were being tugged on mercilessly, and he had to do something...but what? What could a pointless boy like himself do to help them?

He did the simplest. He gave them his jacket. 

At first, the pair of siblings stared at Yuta then back at the jacket as if examing if gesture was kind or not. He kept still as they did this, not wanting to frighten the children before the brother, who seemed to be not much older then seven, grabbed soft material with his small hands before half hearted smile fills his cheeks. “Thanks mister.”

He nodded. “Don’t mention it.”

The little girl, who had been hiding her face in her brother’s chest the entire time, smiled at Yuta, revealing her shy yet toothy grin to the older boy. He felt his chest clench up as a warm sensation filled his body. Yuta felt terrible, remorseful even for these two kids, he was glad enough that they were still able to smile so sweetly even for such a small reason; they genuinely seemed grateful. 

Then, it stopped.

The comfortable warmth was replaced with cold. Ice cold.

‘No.’ He thought. ‘No no no. Not now. Please not now.’

A tingling ran down his spine and he felt like his nerves were on fire, penetrating his own mind as a thick liquid of new thoughts leaked trough the opening. Yuta’s soft gaze was growing sour, bitter, and worse of all, unnatural.

He stared at the siblings necks, their beautiful, soft, and untouched necks that not even a single drop of soot seemed to damage. 

He imagined their throats under his grip, slowly and slowly adding more pressure as he would watch the color grain from their faces and leave a faint coloring on their lovely flesh until the lights dimmed from their eyes before completely dying out, like a faint blow on a candlestick.

He wanted to break them, to destroy their precious thoughts of happiness and drag them off to flames of hell that would watch them burn just like they should’ve in the building-

‘SHUT UP!!’

With every ounce of strength was Yuta able to push him out. His body felt like it was burning up, like he himself was being burned alive, the pain so unbearable that he could not ignore his wobbling legs any longer as he falls to his knees, gasping for air. 

The little girl quickly waddles away from her brother’s arms and walks towards Yuta, her small eyes wide with concern. “Are you okay?” She asks with her pouty cheeks puffed out slightly.

Yuta couldn’t be around them. He had to leave. Now.

[C]He gave her shoulder a soft squeeze before getting to his feet, running as fast and far as his legs could possibly take him.They called after him, the boy and the girl, but he couldn’t stop, he wouldn’t.

He was still there, that bastard. Faint jolts of pain zapped his body, his brain being fed visions of the two laying dead on the floor, basking in flames as Yuta watched.

No, not Yuta. Not at all.

It was him. Their father.

He pushed past person after person that got in his way, a few cursing at him as many were out partying, celebrating the new year, a fresh new start.

But this time, Yuta simply did what party doers do after every other celebration.

He threw up.

Luckily he was able to make it into one of the public bathroom stalls before things got dirty, the warm sensation of blood trickling down his throat irked him, yet at the same time, relieved him: It was his sign that the man was gone, and with that, his body was free once more.


	2. Miraculous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A miraculous encounter...

The stinging sensation in the back his throat throbbed viciously as he felt the pumping in his veins jolt from his adrenaline rush.

The delightful aroma of fresh goods and fried foods teased the tip of his nose playfully, but despite the undeniable aching of his stomach that demanded even the slightest crumb of whatever was being served around at each booth that he passed, he refused to eat. Yuta knew that if he ate now, it would eventually come right back up.

Usually, he would have to wait until the very next day before he could actually chow down, which wasn’t exactly healthy for him, but then again, none of it was healthy for Yuta. 

The loud cracking of fire crackers, the screaming and laughter of small children, and even the happy chatter that accompanied the adults, they all became white noise to the boy as he walked down the path step by step.

Yuta was beginning to regret his decision on going for a walk at this time, but he had been cooped inside his house for so long that he was worried that he would start going insane at some point. The two old women that lived in his apartment were becoming quite aggressive with their bickering as of lately. It certainly didn’t help that it left Yuta to be right in the middle of it all, not to mention that the new neighbors were already suspecting that he was a basket case.

“He’s a strange one, that boy is.” He had overhead the landlady say the day the new family had arrived to get their house key and Yuta to drop off his rent. “He mumbles odd things at night, I haven’t heard exactly what the words are but it’s no doubt it’s eery, some reckon he’s a satanists or maybe a dark pagan of sorts. Though, he pays his rent on time, so it’s none of my business.”

Yuta definitely wasn’t a satanist, but he couldn’t really blame people who thought so. The mumbling the landlady was referring to wasn’t really him, it was technically a man by the name of Yesung who had lived at the apartment about a decade ago, and from what Yuta was told, he died in his sleep. Why he wailed and murmured so loudly at night was unknown to him, he never really had a chance to even ask.

The sounds of the crowd of people slowly began to die out like the sputter of a flame before finally it was silent, or at least, silent enough where he could finally rest at ease, taking in the quietness of the night as he takes in a deep breath of air. The park was empty, most likely because of the lack of light in the area and how everyone was more occupied with the festivities at the town square instead. The frozen lake looked especially beautiful that night as Yuta slowly made his way towards one of the benches that stood by it, and to his surprise, there seemed to be someone else sitting there.

He was taken aback at first, not expecting to find another person out here aside from himself. While it was quite dark, the person seemed to have been wearing a long jacket with it’s hood up, completely masking out their appearance.

‘I shouldn’t bother them.’ The brunette thought. ‘I’ll just find somewhere else...’

“There’s room for two, you know.” A soft , velvety female voice spoke up ever so gently that it wouldn’t have been audible if it weren’t for the absence of any other human lurking in the park. Yuta stared for a minute before nodding his head and hauling himself down to the available space next to the woman. They sat in silence, the tranquility making up for the odd tension the boy was feeling, almost like a tingling sensation that ran up and down his bones. It wasn’t often he was offered to sit near another. Usually it was due to Yuta’s strange aura and somewhat ragged appearance that put people around him on edge, but the woman didn’t seem to notice this very obvious detail, or perhaps, although highly unlikely, she didn’t care. Out of curiosity did he try to peak at the female’s face as carefully as possible, but her hood was pulled down far enough that Yuta knew that he couldn’t move much more before she would start to notice his movements.

Suddenly the chants of a countdown gradually grows louder as the fireworks grow more and more dynamic with their lights gleaming strongly across the canvas of the sky.

60!

59!

58!

57!

“You know,” the mystery woman started, finally breaking the silence with her soothing voice. “They say that making a wish on the last minute before a new year will grant you a wish..”

51!

50!

49!

Yuta stared at her, taken aback from the sudden statement. His head tilted slightly as he let her words sink in. “Why specifically on the last minute?”

“They say that the universe is more gracious at that time.”

44!

43!

42!

He chuckled softly, shaking his head in the process. “That’s just superstition.”

A beat passed before she responded. “Is it?”

As the countdown continued its descent down its list of numbers, the boy slipped into thought. A wish? Things like that didn’t exist, or so he would’ve thought that way until that very moment. As odd as it sounded, that simple comment made by that woman was enough to make him question his reasoning. Who was he to say that it was untrue? His whole life was something that any person could deem as faulty, so who’s to say that it’s fake?

No, perhaps Yuta was thinking too deep into the matter, blurring the lines of his reality versus something he had no knowledge of, which would only challenge the mere way of how he saw or perceived things in life, how things were shown in his very ownlight. Question was, why was he so worked up about it? All she had said when Yuta stated that the idea of wishes and granting wishes were merely a superstition, something for humans to hold onto, were the two simplest words that brought down every single idea he had originally had for the subject. ‘Is it?’

23!

22!

21!

Why else would Yuta be so perched on the topic?  
Perhaps he was in denial, in denial that anything could possibly be fixed with something as small as wish, that he could be solved by a wish. The thought made his stomach turn in knots.

12!

11!

10!

It was silly in a way, the woman who sat with him would never know the inner termoil she had caused him at that moment. Still, he had nothing to lose. Craning his head back, Yuta gazed up at the stars that glew brighter than any other night he had seen before.

“I wish to become human. To become something more than a puppet hanging from transparent threads that control as they please. To love and to be loved, to be able to experience my own emotions, my own feelings, my own thoughts. I, Nakamoto Yuta, wish to become more.” 

3!

2!

1!

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

Right on cue, the screams that blared over the festive music and the fireworks that multiplied its lights in the sky quickly burst into its beautiful glory as the lovely night grew more and more lively.

Yuta stayed silent, slightly embarrassed that he had confessed his rather unusual sounding wish in front of a stranger and was beginning to regret yet another choice he had made, that is, until he feels the woman’s body shift on the bench and his eyes dash towards her figure, only to see a flash of pitch black hair and deep red lipstick.

“You’re wish is my command.”

A sudden hit of drowsiness captured his senses, panic almost seizing his body, but before he knew it, Yuta was dragged down into the pit of his dreams.


	3. Unordinary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unordinary situation...

Confusion hit Yuta the moment his eyes twitched from the ray of sunlight that made a beeline for his pupils. Groggily opens them, his eyelids felt as if They weighed tones.

Perhaps confused was an understatement for the boy, if anything he was more flabbergasted beyond belief then anything. Although the memory of last night became oddly vague to him now, Yuta was very much sure that he had not remembered walking home to begin with.

He pushed away his covers and laid his head back onto the wall behind his bed, capturing a short ounce of air before heaving it out. Yuta wasn't much of a drinker, so he knew that him being intoxicated was definitely a hell no. He scans his body for a few moments, checking for bruises, marks, or any indications of being assaulted in any way. No luck. Just his oddly deformed shaped birthmark on his stomach.

A shiver ran down his spine and his shoulders began to tense up. The familiar cold that clenched his back and began to smother the entirety of his senses quickly took place.'Don't tell me.' Yuta thought, agony eating him up as he realized what was occurring. 'It's way too early for this...'

Before he could even begin to protest, his thoughts are forcefully pushed to the back of his head as a new subconscious begins to arise. His now stern eyes examined his room, taking in his surroundings as if they were knew to him before scowling in the process. "So messy..." He growled in a husky voice. "How can this boy expect us to live in such filthy conditions?"

Another tug in his core initiates another visitor to occur, this one was warmer, lighter. "Darling," he spoke in a soothing and calm voice. "We aren't even alive, so this has no effect on us."

"Inexcusably Irrelevant!" The harsh, cold voice spat. "No wonder he never has company around, it's a pig's sty in here!"

"Deary, I'm positive that Yuta's lack of company is more our fault then anything." The feminine toned voice cooed. It continued like this for a few minutes, fighting back and fourth while Yuta was stuck in between a game of tug of war, and in this case, his mind was the rope.

Usually, if they were any other spirits that took hold of him out of the blue then it would hurt terribly, especially with two. To his 'luck' however, it simply wasn't the case considering that by this point, his body had become accustomed to these two, their presence was the norm...unfortunately, that didn't make it any less annoying for the boy.

"ENOUGH!" Releasing a large portion of his strength, Yuta pushed himself to his highest extent and threw the two bickering souls out of his body. Panting, he falls back onto his bed, the cool feeling of his pillow against his now heated skin created a small sense of refreshment, but is quickly overturned when he felt a warm liquid that smelt of iron run down his nose.

"I thought I told you guys to stop doing that in the morning..." He said in between his deep breathes. "I haven't even recovered from the one that happened last night..." Yuta wasn't expecting them to respond, after all, they couldn't communicate with them unless they connected to his body...He refused to use the actual word for the term. Yuta despised that very word, it had become such a horror trend that it didn't even seem horrifying or even scary in anyway, now it was just a stupid Hollywood cliché. 

A loud knock pulls him back from his thoughts as he hauls himself to his feet and makes his way to the front door. His apartment was relatively small, from his room there was a short hallway that lead into the kitchen, which was also quite tiny. From there, the front door was only a few inches away from where the fridge stood. He enjoyed the close quarters, everything was much easier to access and was just the right amount of space needed for him; it's not as if anyone would come to visit the boy.

 

The door opens and just as he expected, nobody was there, except a blue sticky note that stuck to his door, and in red pen it said:

 

'CONTINUANCE TO SOB LOUDLY DURING THE HOUR OF MIDNIGHT AND DISTURBING NEIGHBORING TENANTS WILL RESULT IN EVICTION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.' 

At that moment Yuta felt his face flush almost instantly. Of course by now his neighbors were most likely fed up with the obnoxiously loud crying after dealing with for about a year now, but it wasn't like he had any control of it, technically he wasn't even the one doing it, just another one of his troublesome 'roommates'.

Yesung was the former owner of the apartment and is also responsible for all the annoying weeping that took place at night. He lived here in 2005 and died near Christmas in 2007, Yuta never found out how he died except that he had died in his sleep...and had happened to have been crying the very night before he did.

Yuta bet his money that it was suicide. 

He'd have to talk to the mournful spirit some other time about his horrible habits, for the boy did not have much time to converse with Yesung considering it was Monday, a school day.

The fridge opened with a slight squeak when Yuta pulled the handle, inside were a carton of milk and a small cup of yogurt that had already expired a month ago. "Perfect." He mumbled. "Guess I'm eating out for breakfast."

 

~|Superstitious|~

 

 

Yuta honestly wished that his school could change their uniforms to brighter colors instead of all black and white, it only made people's impression of him even more realistic then they already were. For as long as he could remember, he was always the kid that everyone was afraid of because of his creepy aura that always accompanied him. Introverted at a young age, Yuta didn't really have many friends that were living, the only ones he had were two female twins who's souls were stuck near the playground near his home and a boy who Yuta assumed was either headless or was drowned because he always gurgled his words whenever they came into contact. The boy had learned to accept his weirdness when in the company of the living, however that never stopped him from trying his best to fit it...only to inevitably come off as even stranger to his peers then before.

'His eyes are so lifeless and stale like a fish, his skin is as sickly pale as expired milk, the dark circles under his eyes makes him look like he never sleeps.' 

Yuta has heard them all before, down the corridors, in gym class, or even during his lunch period, they always made comments on his peculiar appearance. He had always had a weak body and it was all thanks to the spirits who would sense his aura and use his body as their own, using him as if he were a puppet.

A puppet. Yes, this was all Yuta was. He wasn't a human, not really, he was just a simple toy for the dead and the living to equally play with.

'He looks like the grim reaper.'

''It was because of the stupid uniform.' The boy thought as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. If they were white or navy blue he probably wouldn't look as terrifying, hell, he'd be fine with pink if he had to, at that point he'd rather be laughed at then be ignored and feared.

Yuta is torn away from his thoughts as three short and slow knocks on his door captures his attention. A tinge of annoyance pinches his nerves as he straightens his back and walks towards the door. 

"Ms. Park I already got your letter, so I promise I-"

He stops his sentence midway as he stares at the empty space in front of him.

Nobody was there.

A few moments pass as he stares blankly before scoffs at himself. 'It was probably some of the kids from downstairs messing around again.' Yuta tells himself as he sighs, about to shut the door when his eyes fall down upon an object on his welcome mat.

It was a key. It was red and slightly rusted with the hilt shaped like a heart. When he picked it up he noticed that it was slightly bent as well and saw a little note attached to it:

 

‘The shop awaits your arrival, may you be blessed.'  
-T

He stared down at the words with his mouth slightly agape and his brows furrowed in confusion. The hand writing was unfamiliar to him, a part of him figured it was a sort of hoax, a prank, or maybe even just a mindless mistake. Instead of questioning anything else, Yuta stared at the key, reexamining it's features and murmuring the first five words that had managed to imprint on the boy's memory.

"The shop awaits your arrival...?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Not sure how I feel about this chapter...what about you guys? Thoughts?


	4. Fateful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fateful discovery...

The heaviness in his pocket outweighed the heaviness in his chest as Yuta dragged his feet across the concrete street while the heat of the day clenched to his bones and began to beat down on him heavily. The dark uniform was no help as it only attracted more of the sunlight to penetrate his sickly pale and sensitive skin that would have surely burned if the majority of it wasn't covered. The tinted key in his pocket was surprisingly cool despite the day's temperature, what was even more surprising was the weight that accompanied it. For something so small it felt strangely heavy, or at least, heavier then what he would have imagined a key of that size to be. 

As the wave of familiar uniforms began to flood in from nearby neighborhoods and the playful chatter that filled the air gradually grew bit by bit, Yuta's body began to tense up. He dropped the red key back into his pocket before lowering his head, his feet beginning to drag more than before. People didn't like looking at his face, they would say that his eyes resembled that of a dead fish with his deep dark circles and his rugged black hair. Together it made him look half dead, so the boy figured it would have been best to simply not show his face as much as he could when out in daylight.

"How's your family doing? When I saw the news I couldn't believe what had happened, where you live no less!"

From a few feet away, two girls who had happened to be in Yuta's homeroom, Sana and Mina, were chatting about in hushed tones, Yuta however, was close enough to listen in to the conversation since he was not concentrating on much else.

"Is it true that everything burned down? There's really nothing left on the fourth floor?" Mina asked, her whisper airy.

Sana sighed, pushing her brown hair behind her ear, nodding slightly. "It's insane. The fire started off so small, but by the time everyone was evacuated you could clearly see that the entire fourth floor was covered in flames...it was just...insane."

The heat did not bother Yuta anymore as chills ran down his spine. He began to recall the night of new years. The hollow and cold like presence that had slipped in and took control of the boy's body remained in his memory, as well as the two soot covered siblings.

'Are they alright?' He thought to himself, his heart dropping by the minute the more he pondered on the possible outcomes. 'Should I ask? Would that come off weird? Would they know? Would they care? Would they simply ignore me just like any other day?'

As his questions began to pile up on top of each other with each given second, he no longer had to ask when Mina suddenly spoke up. "I heard that the man's kids are okay...what will happen to them?"

"Well..." Sana paused, eyeing her surroundings to see if anyone would be eavesdropping. With Yuta's head down and his hair covering up his eyes, showing a sign of complete disinterest, his classmate did not seem to mind his presence as she continued on. "As far as I know, their  
dad was all they had, I heard my mom talking to her friend about the two of them going into the foster system now."

As a wave of guilt flooded over his shoulders, he felt a tiredness in his bones that usually told him that he was about to pass out, with that he began to panic. 'I can't pass out now.' Yuta clenched his fists as he thought this. 'I can't afford for people to see me like that...'

The boy checked his watch to see that it was 7:00 am. lessons began immediately at 7:35. At this pace he was only ten minutes away from his school, so perhaps he could make a small detour to sit and rest for a bit...

Up ahead was a three way intersection, the one in the middle led into the market where all the other big brand stores were located, the one on the right was where the rest of town was, including the school, and the one in the left was a small area that Yuta had only been to once or twice before, but it was quieter and the street lights there were much dimmer. He appreciated the calm atmosphere  of the area, so he turned left. Not many people went down that particular street, and for Yuta it made sense: Nobody really lived there and it was filled with a bunch of rundown shops that closed years ago, some before he was even born. It was like a tiny ghost town, except...perhaps without the ghosts.

Yuta however, was quick to retract that last statement, mentally cursing himself when a faint chill ran down his spine. His eyes widened as he felt his hands begin to tremble, a strong force wrapping around his shoulders. The heat of the day had suddenly washed away in such a quick second that the boy was now trembling from the cold that threatened to freeze him completely at that very moment. The force continued to coil itself around his body like a snake. He couldn't move.

Yuta's heart was beating so abnormally fast that it felt as though it would pop at any minute. He tried pushing it out, pushing out the spirit that was making him their pray as he urged his body to continue to move with each heavy step. 

It was as if his legs were filled with led and his arms with jelly as pain invaded each limb with every bit of movement he made, and the spirit didn't seem to like that. Without a warning a sharp yet familiar pain spiked at the back of Yuta's head, making the boy's heart rate elevate even further as he soon realized what was happening. 'It's gonna take control.' He thought. 'I can't let it do that...!'

With the remaining strength that the teen was able to summon, he threw out all thoughts of his pain and focused on one objective: Running.

 

So he ran, he ran faster then he thought possible with his condition as he ignored the thumping pain in his head and all parts of his body, but even with all his strength, he was barely strong enough, he felt it, the spirit, it was catching up to him. Something else caught his attention, the key, the once cool piece of metal was now getting warmer, it almost seemed as if it was getting hotter the more he ran.

When his lungs felt like were on fire that was the end of it. It wrapped around his leg just as he was approaching a black gate on the next turn he made. As his chest hit the ground with a loud thud, Yuta was quickly winded. Struggling to catch his breath, a cold sensation began to travel up his legs. 'No no no no!' He clenched his jaw while his entire body began shaking from nerves. He hadn't fully recovered from the spirit from last night, so he surely couldn't handle this rather aggressive one now.

Yuta refused to give in, not yet, and so in one last shot at defiance, he grabbed at the black gate and pulled at it. They key in his pocket was completely burning up now, but he paid it no mind and pulled harder. The boy was able to catch how easily the gate was shaking from his movement, so with one final tug of his strength, he pulled open the gate and pushed himself through.

White flooded his vision and his panting thumped through his ears, blood gushed to his face while the rest of his body throbbed in pain. It was gone, as strange as it was to Yuta, the spirit seemed to have left just as suddenly as it came. A fresh breeze blew in as it caressed against the boy's face, but before he could even begin to enjoy the chill air, the sound of wind chimes caught his attention. Although his body tempted him to pass out, he was able to bring up his heavy eyelids.

It appeared to be a shop, or perhaps even a shrine considering the ofudas that hung from its ceiling along with the wooden wind chimes that Yuta had heard moments ago. The place was colored red and had a black roof unlike the other places on the street, which consisted of gray and white stores and buildings that looked meek in comparison. His eyes passed by the outside in where he was located to see two small bamboo trees growing on each side and of the shop. A few feet from him stood a bamboo water fountain that made a thunk sound whenever it was overfilled with water, while an array of purple flowers scattered the rest of the little garden.

Yuta was surprised at how well kept such a place was considering where it was located. A moment passed before he wracked at his brain, trying to recall if he had ever seen this place before, which truthfully he hadn't. One would assume it was new in that case, but something about it made it seem that it was old, perhaps it was the aura that it gave off, that it had always been there. Longer than any other place on that street.

Slowly, the boy got off the ground and brushed himself off lightly, his eyes never leaving the shop. An invisible string was tugging at him, pulling him towards that red wooden door with each small step he made. In any other circumstance he would have pushed away immediately, knowing very well that it would be a spirit trying to trick him, yet now he didn't. It felt different to Yuta...it felt warmer.

The concept of time meant nothing to him at that moment as he stood there, a few inches away from the door while a vast amount of adrenaline began to pump through his veins. He knocked three times, and when nobody answered, an odd sense of disappointment drew onto him. Yuta was almost about to consider turning back when the surprising sensation of burning metal touched his chest, the area in which the key was pocketed in. Hastily he pulled it out, but the moment he did, the small object had lost every trace of being heated to begin with. The boy knitted his eyebrows, contemplating whether it was his imagination or not, but then realization had hit him.

'The Shop awaits your arrival.'

Those were the words on the note. For a moment, Yuta stared down at the slightly bent up key with its heart shaped hilt before looking back at the door. It was all so strange to him, each coincidence made everything seem too strange and bizarre to him, almost as if none of it was real.

Then, something absolutely unbelievable crossed his mind, and even a small piece of him believed it was insane.

'Could this not be a coincidence?' 

'Unlikely.' Yuta thought, but in the same string thoughts contradicted himself. 'It's possible that there might be something...' He let all hesitation fly out of his body. He took the key and pushed it into the rusted lock.

And it turned.


	5. Unnatural

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unnatural scenario...

Within the faintest crack of the door, the smell of incenses lingered in the air inside the small shop along with basil and perhaps even cinnamon too. It wasn't a combination Yuta was familiar with, but it felt soothing, like it was taking all his nerves before rolling them out into a calmer state. Until that very moment, the boy had made his way to those steps and up onto the porch without single thought, but only now was he beginning to feel that deep sense of hesitation and regret that he had not felt moments before. Was there even anyone home? He wasn't sure, and a part of him was questioning whether he should have even been there to begin with, to Yuta, everything about it just seemed...unnatural.

At the sound of the door creaking as it began to open up does Yuta feel his heart leap to his throat as his fingers felt jittery, either from fear or from the anxiousness that fueled his curiosity. "Hello?" he said in a voice slightly louder than a murmur inside the shop, and when he heard no reply, the boy took a quick breath and stepped back. What was he even doing there? Yuta had no business in a place like this, besides, as he stared down at his watch he saw it read 7:20 am. Annoyance began bubbling in his stomach as he realized that he was going to be late at this point if he did not hurry, knowing full well that he should have walked away, that he should have forgot about that little shop and carry on with the rest of his day. Of course he should have...but he didn't. The boy did not leave.

Something was telling him not to, was pulling at his core even stronger then before as his body disobeyed his rationality. He no longer had control of that untamed curiosity that was drowned him slowly like the flooding of a heavy rain, and before Yuta could even think twice, his foot was already through the door.

 

~|Superstitious|~

 

The scorching heat of the day seemed to have been immune to where Yuta stood as the sensation of the cold air collided into him. Yuta was quite sensitive to temperature, so he always immediately felt the slightest drop or increase in whatever setting, and in this case the change was a drastic one. Cautiously he proceeded down the small hallway, his footsteps creaking ever so slightly against the old floorboards. He couldn't stand the way it felt as if the air was growing thinner the further he trudged into the small shop and it only peeked at his suspense even more then before as the boy's heartbeat thumped louder that it was almost painful. For the most part it was quiet, the type of quiet that made anyone uneasy, and at some point when the wooden chimes had softened to nothing, and the thudding of the bamboo fountain had slowly blurred into white noise, Yuta's stable breathing was the only sound that occupied the in his mind. Oddly enough, he began to relax.

He hated it. He hated this feeling of comfort that he had never once experienced before, yet at the same time, made him feel completely on edge. It was a concoction of contradicting emotions that only succeeded in frustrating himself even more then he thought possible. 'I must be going mad.' He thought. 'That's the only plausible explanation for this.' 

It was sudden, and at first Yuta thought it was simply his imagination, but when the faint breath-like whispering pricked at his ears, a lump quickly formed in the back of his throat as the all too familiar shivers that crept up his spine. Angered by his own foolishness he turned on his heels and dashed down the hall, not darling to look back. 'What were you thinking?' Yuta thought to himself. 'The signs were all there, you should've expected this.' 

To the boy's dismay the whispering only grew louder, and his footsteps grew fainter as his blood began to freeze under his trembling skin. He thought he was going crazy once he noticed that the hallway had narrowed and stretched out longer then it was before, which lead to his panic escalating and his breath beginning to seize in his chest. Yuta had never encountered anything like this in his entire life, nothing as extreme as this, nothing as mind boggling as this. Yuta wondered if it were the spirit from outside, had it followed him inside the shop? If so why did he not notice it until now? As more questions began to pile up on him one by one, the boy wasn't able to process the tall and lean figure standing before him until he came to an abrubt stop.

The figure resembled that of a boy no older then he was who wore white robes and a pair of getas. Yuta said nothing as he stared at the stranger in front of him, unsure of what to say or do as the faint whispers began closing in on him and his head buzzing. The brunette was going to pass out, he knew it was coming. He had been used up so much without any rest that there was barely enough energy left for him to function with, he had been running on fumes for the majority of the day up until that point; he had lost all hope of swift escape. Through blurry Yuta could make out the boy mouthing words that only met his deaf ears as awave exhaustion washed over him and felt his eyes roll to the back of his head, his vision fading into obscurity.

 

~|Superstitious|~ 

 

"You don't suppose he's dead, do you?"

"He just passed out. He must have overworked his body and ended up not being careful of the outcome."

Although his eyelids were heavy and every inch of his body craved to do nothing bust curl up and sleep for as long as he wanted, his concious fought against such thoughts and urged the boy to awaken.

"Ah. He's trying to wake up."

"Should he even be trying? It would be trouble for him to continue on in his state."

Yuta couldn't make out the voices, they were completely unfamiliar yet did not cause him any suspicion or wariness. He no longer felt cold nor did he feel overheated, but rather a delicate warmth that wrapped around him like a wool blanket, making it much more difficult for the boy to force himself to rise. With a slight push in his gut he tried to bring up his head from the ground but immediately failed as it hit the wooden floor with a light thud. 'It's no use.' Yuta thought. 'I really screwed up this time.'

"Woah! Look at him go!"

"Pipe down, Haechan. Let him rest."

A gentle hand laid itself against his forehead and from there his energy began to evaporate almost instantly as he felt his concious begin to lull him back into his dreams. "It is alright to sleep." one of the voices from before whispered to him. "Rest for now. You have plenty of time."

Yuta didn't have to be told twice, and so without another moments hesitation he let himself relax onto the wooden floor, suddenly not as uncomfortable as before. 

Whether it had been mere minutes or a couple of hours, the boy had no way of telling other than the fact that he had awoken slightly more rejuvenized then he did before. Upon opening his eyes Yuta stared up at the roof as he waited for them to adjust to the surroundings and for his body to start processing properly. Had he been taken by another spirit? He had no urge to vomit so it didn't seem to be that, even if he were he doubted they were hostile due to the lack of negative energy. Deep in thought, Yuta couldn't comprehend what had happened, until a voice finally chimed in.

"He looks better now."

Alarmed, the boy did not hesitate to jerk forward from where he laid as his eyes searched for the source of the sound before landing upon a boy. The boy wore robes just like the first person he had encountered in the shop, though with him, they were red. He had thick eyebrows, dark brown hair and an oval shaped face with skin that was slightly tanner than Yuta's, but there was something very unusual with this person's appearance. His right eye was a light almond color while his left was oddly enough blue. The brunette knew better then to stare at someone for so long but he truly couldn't look away, almost as if it were impossible to. He portrayed a human in terms of appearence, yet at the same time there was something almost unearthly about him, an almost nonvisible glow that outlined his figure that would have made him stand out in a heartbeat.

"Who are you...?" those were the only three words Yuta knew he could muster as he stared at the odd new face who had laid himself out on a stone table a few mere feet from where he sat. It was faint, but Yuta saw a small light emerge from the pupil of the boy's blue eye, but faded away far too suddenly for him to ask about before the latter's bored appearence softly shifted into a more interested expression, a smile threatening to tug at the end of his lip. "So he can see, then." he spoke, seeming to have said it more to himself then to Yuta. "That certainly changes things."

Perplexed and still in a daze he blinked several times, trying to clear his mind and whisk away the sleep in his eyes, but though to no avail as he saw the red robed boy sitting the same way he was before. This couldn't have been spirit, could it? Everything seemed far too bizzare for his mind to comprehend. 

Spirits were energies, they had no form nor body, they were simply entities that occupied empty spaces in hopes they could latch onto a living being like a parasite, such as how they did to Yuta. Of course, that is how Yuta had always perceived them to be. Never being able to actually see them, he could always feel them; the change in temperature, the sudden anxiety and the shift of the atmosphere were all the signs he needed when there was one approaching, that he was only a breath away from being taken. 

The sound of approaching footsteps gradually grew louder before coming to hault, urging Yuta to turn, only to see yet another unknown person. This man also wore robes, though his were silver and fit him much more elegantly then the other. His hair was close to a grayish color yet he did not appear to me much older than Yuta himself. The same could be said for his eyes as they reflected the same calming atmosphere he carried when he first entered. "I specifically said to let him rest, Haechan." The new face chided, staring directly at the one with red robes. Haechan, the boy whom Yuta now knew the name of, shrugged, his features soon melting into a more playful state as a smile began to peak at the ends of his lips.

"I figured our sleeping beauty here was well enough." He nods his head towards Yuta's direction. "The color seems to be back on his face, don't you think Ten?"

The gray haired boy, Ten, wrinkled his brows and shook his head in disapproval of the younger's actions. "That does not mean he is well, he obviously needs more time to recover." Stepping close enough, Ten kneeled down to the same level as Yuta before placing his hand on the boy's forehead. Yuta sat still, he was almost afraid to move at all if it weren't for the latter's reassuring smile. Slightly chilly, he wondered why Ten's hands were so cold when the inside of the shop was nothing but warm. Yuta, however, did not think to ask as a prior thought reoccupied his mind.

"What are you?" He said this in a slightly hushed tone, as if he were being secretive when there was really nothing to hide. For a moment Yuta felt embarrassment drape over him when he soon realized that he could have possibly worded the question better, not make it sound rude. 

'How does one even begin a conversation under these circumstances?' Deep down he knew that he was possibly overthinking the situation, but the thought of that in itself made Yuta panic more than before. A bright laugh rung in his ears as the boy looked to see Haechan with his head leaned back as the sounds continued to escape from his lips. "Did you see how tense he got? He looked as if he feared for his life!"

Ten said nothing, instead, he kept all his focus on Yuta. "I could tell you," he starts. "but I have feeling that you may already hold that answer."

The room went quiet. It wasn't uncomfortable nor was it unbearable, but it would have appeared that everyone had stopped to take in the silence and wait for a reaction. Yuta's thoughts were jumbled, he felt that if he were to say anything else the words would only fall into a disorganized state, come across as a complete fool to the two. Fortunately for him, Ten seemed to have sensed this as he shook his head, a warm smile still spread on his face. The boy finally stood, his robes ruffling from beneath his feet. "Welcome to the shop, Nakamoto Yuta." 

Catching Yuta off guard, the boy was even more taken aback when Ten had bowed his head slightly in such a welcoming manner despite the fact Yuta had been the one to intrude. "I understand you must be disheveled at the moment, but I'd like to take this time to answer your first question."

He looks up, his eyes locking with Yuta's. "We are yokai."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far?? I hope you’re enjoying the story!


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